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"the trucking industry is hurting for long-haul drivers"

I think that is the story they like to tell, because it gets on the news and leads some people to seek jobs as truck drivers. But I don't think it's really true.

I think they have all the drivers they are willing to pay for. If they really had a shortage of drivers, they would pay more to attract more drivers.

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There was an interesting comment on this in a recent government finance report. An owner of a company said, "I'm having trouble filling all my open roles". When asked, "Why not offer more money?", they said, "Because then I'd have to pay all my existing workers more too and I can't afford that. It's cheaper to just pay them all overtime".

So this could explain why they won't just pay more -- because some people are already willing to do the work at the current pay, and it's cheaper to have them work more.

There is a difference between being willing to work at the current pay, and tolerating exploitative conditions out of fear of destitution.

Which is where UBI comes in as the missing part of a liberal capitalist economy. Until you remove the stick of starvation and homelessness, labour markets cannot respond rationally.

Agreed. Also not tying health insurance to employment.

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